


brushfire

by TheOriginalCowboyCat



Series: ғɪʀᴇsɪᴅᴇ [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: American Sign Language, Campfires, Crushes, Drunken Kissing, First Kiss, Fluff, Formerly "Fireside", Gift Giving, Hawkmoon Spoilers, I Blame Tumblr, Light Angst, Other, Selectively Mute Guardian (Destiny), The Dawning (Destiny)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28024479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOriginalCowboyCat/pseuds/TheOriginalCowboyCat
Summary: Crow was the only person they’d met that didn’t treat them like some sort of savior… even if it was only because he didn’t know who they truly were yet. To him, they were a companion… and equal.“I can almost hear you thinking, Guardian,” the man said, his soft voice drawing them out of their thoughts.The Guardian looked up to find Crow staring at them, smiling.How long had he just been sitting there looking at them?“I confided my dreams to you, and you helped me discover their meaning. If you’ll allow me, I’d like to return the favor,”.
Relationships: Nonbinary Guardian/The Crow (Destiny)
Series: ғɪʀᴇsɪᴅᴇ [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103447
Comments: 11
Kudos: 101





	brushfire

His laugh…

Oh, how they adored his laugh, his smile, his amber eyes that seemed to glow even brighter in the fire’s dim light.

The Guardian watched, with their heart fluttering in their chest, as Crow knocked back the wine bottle they’d acquired from their most recent trip to the City, the dark liquid dribbling down his chin and down the length of his neck. They hardly ever drank this much, not around others at least, but it was a celebration… one Crow deserved to experience in the proper way.

The Dawning was just days away, and they’d already found him a suitable gift… a weapon, much better than the scraped together, sorry excuses for weapons the Spider had loan him. Hopefully, it would be enough to protect him from the revenge-driven Guardians that hunted him down mercilessly.

He might share the face of someone who had done terrible things, but that was where the likeness ended.

“Here,” Crow said suddenly, dragging a dark sleeve across his lips as he handed them the bottle, “Your turn,”.

They caught notice of Ghost and Glint giving them both a dirty look as they continued to put poison into their bodies. The Guardian knew that they’d feel the repercussions of this in the morning, but they couldn’t be bothered… for the first time in a very long time, they felt safe, like they could finally let their guard down and enjoy the company of another without the crushing weight of responsibility on their shoulders.

And they were going to savor every second of this.

With a drunk sincere smile, they reached out to and grabbed the neck of the bottle, their fingers brushing against Crow’s for a moment. It was a simple touch, an accident really, but it was enough to make them nearly drop the bottle altogether, face growing beet red at the slip up.

“Perhaps you’ve had enough for tonight,” he observed with a breathy chuckled, a small hiccup following soon after, “Perhaps we both have,”.

They shook their head and tried to hide their flushed cheeks, giving Crow a thumbs up as reassurance that they were just fine, and could keep going. They wanted to keep going… the fire in front of them was too warm and his smile was too enticing to want to step away.

“Alright… if you insist, but be careful you don’t keel over into the fire,” he said, poking at the embers with a stick he’d picked off the forest floor, eyes fixated on the flames that licked at the wood, “Burns are a nasty thing to fix,”.

The Guardian could tell from his withdrawn tone that he was speaking from experience, and decided not to pry any further, already knowing that they weren’t likely to get an answer. Quietly, they took another swig of wine and looked down at Crow’s Dawning gift sitting next to them, wondering when they should give it to him.

This was going to be his first Dawning with someone who wasn’t trying to kill him, with someone whom he trusted… someone, they hoped, he saw as a friend.

At the same time, they didn’t want to make things awkward.

The Guardian themself didn’t have many friends… just a handful of people they considered alies. They weren’t part of a fireteam, never had been and the Vanguard hardly counted as _friends_. Their many titles seemed to scare people away most of the time… who would be crazy enough to want to go up against a _Godslayer_ in a friendly Crucible match, anyway.

They didn’t…

They didn’t want to lose him.

Crow was the only person they’d met that didn’t treat them like some sort of savior… even if it was only because he didn’t know who they truly were yet. To him, they were a companion… and equal.

“I can almost hear you thinking, Guardian,” the man said, his soft voice drawing them out of their thoughts.

The Guardian looked up to find Crow staring at them, smiling.

How long had he just been sitting there looking at them?

“I confided my dreams to you, and you helped me discover their meaning. If you’ll allow me, I’d like to return the favor,”.

Oh…

Oh, they were falling for him… falling hard and _fast._

They swallowed down the last bit of wine and sighed, tossing the bottle to the side as they pondered on where to start. They opened their mouth, wanting to speak but… instead they snapped it shut and turned to the weapon leaning against the fallen tree they were both sitting on, a single crude bow stuck on the barrel.

They grabbed it.

The Guardian’s heart clenched in their chest when they noticed Crow flinch upon seeing them draw a weapon, his eyes wide in momentary fear. They set it down again and raised their hands, slowly signing out a string of letters they knew he’d understand.

G-I-F-T

It took him a moment, but his eyes eventually lit up with realization. “Gift? You… got me a gift?” he asked.

They nodded, pulling up the weapon again and resting it in their lap, showing it to be a submachine gun. They ran their hand down the length of the weapon, which was scuffed slightly from battle, but still beautiful. It’d been years since they last used it, leaving it to collect dust in the Vaults of the old Tower… the Guardian didn’t even want to think about the amount of trouble they’d be in if Zavala had found out they went back to the restricted area just to retrieve a gun.

… Again.

But it was a good gun, their _first_ gun in fact, albeit reforged at this point but regardless of its age, they knew the Khvostov 7G-0X would be put to good use in the right hands.

The Guardian looked up at Crow again, smiling nervously as they handed it to him.

He hesitated to touch it at first, shooting a wary glance over to Glint who, from his spot next to their own Ghost a few feet away, whispered a few words of encouragement, “ _Go on, take it…it’s a gift!_ ” he said. Crow’s gaze met their own before a smile broke out on his face, taking the gun and studying it with eyes full of wonder and awe.

“Thank you, Guardian, I- I wish I’d have gotten you something in return, this is… this is so thoughtful and wonderful and…”, He paused, catching sight of something shimmering on the frame, “Oh? What’s this?”.

Their breath hitched in their throat, heart beating wildly in their chest as they awaited his response.

“ _It doesn't matter who you were,”_ he said aloud, reading the small engraved plaque they’d placed on the side of the gun, _“Only what you will become_ ,”.

It was a bit… _on the nose_ , especially given Crow’s very recent past life, and the price he was paying for that man’s actions, but the Guardian hoped it would bring him some comfort and reassure him in the fact that the consequences for those actions were not his burden to bear. The path he was on was a bright one, and they knew, without a doubt, that the Traveler had brought him back to do amazing things.

If anything, his dreams and visions of the Hawk of Light were proof enough that It had big plans for him.

Even with the Darkness right on their doorstep, the threat of Savathûn and Xivu Arath growing bigger with each passing day, and the Vanguard’s call for them to once again save the universe… Crow remained a beacon of hope for the Guardian.

Hope for a brighter tomorrow.

“… thank you,” Crow said after a quiet moment, setting the gun down beside him, his voice softer than it was before. He sniffled a bit and chucked, wiping away at the tears that puddled under his eyes as he looked up at them, smiling. “You… you really do see something great in me, don’t you Guardian? When we first met, I was afraid you would treat me like every other Guardian I came across does, eager to put a bullet in my Ghost. When you looked at me in that moment, I was almost certain that that would be the case, but… you’re different than the others,”.

He began fiddling with his hands, face blushing a deep blue as his eyes continued to mist.

“You… make me feel safe,”.

The Guardian found themself inching closer to him, chest aching with desperation to comfort him. They couldn’t stand how scared he sounded when talking about his encounters with other Guardians, how he was forced to live in fear of those who were supposed to be the protectors of humanity. So desperately they wanted to take away all that ailed him.

“I- I feel… _valued_ and _cherished_ ,”.

They reached out despite the doubt running rampant in their mind, hand resting gently on his upper arm.

Crow didn’t move, didn’t flinch away… their touch was welcomed.

“I… I feel,” he continued, voice wavering and falling apart, “I feel…”.

The Guardian dared move closer, their calloused hand now cradling the side of his face, wiping away the tears that rolled down his cheeks with their thumb. The amber eyes that haunted their dreams for years were now a sight of comfort and safety… warmth.

Crow leaned into their touch, desperate for the affection he craved and the adoration they were so willing to give. His lips quivering slightly as he closed his eyes and sighed. “I feel _loved_ when I’m with you, Guardian,” he said, voice barely above a whisper.

Their bodies were close now, lips hovering just inches away from each other… waiting for someone to make the first move. The world itself seemed to slow, the fire that crackled beside them, the crickets that chirped softly in the dark underbrush, their Ghosts; who had been talking amongst themselves; all fell silent in anticipation.

The Guardian, after what felt like an eternity, closed the distance between them.

His lips were soft and warm, and tasted of wine when they finally made contact with their own. The kiss itself was meek and hesitant, Crow keeping one hand on their shoulder, and the other on their inner thigh, shy nervous giggles emanated from them both as they slowly fell into a comfortable rhythm.

They’d never kissed anyone before, they’d never _been_ kissed… in this life anyway.

It was… nice.

They hoped there’d be more moments like this in the future… with Crow there beside them.

When they finally broke away for a breath of air, the Guardian sighed contently, leaning in and pressing their forehead against his shoulder. They felt almost dizzy, shamelessly drunk off the adrenaline running through their veins, the alcohol already in their system having nothing on the way that kiss made them feel.

“That was-” he said, taking a slow, steady breath in between words, “… _Wow,_ ”.

They chuckled and nodded; a large smile hidden behind flushed cheeks. _Wow_ didn’t even begin to describe it, there weren’t enough words in the _world_ to describe it. All their triumphs and victories as a Guardian paled in comparison to this exact moment.

A beat of silence passed between them before Crow spoke again, his voice warm and adorably shy. It was clear that it was his first kiss too, and he was reeling from the same wave of emotions they were. “Guardian?” he whispered; arm still wrapped around them.

They hummed in response and made no effort to move, far too comfortable in his embrace.

“Thank you,” he said, “For everything… tonight was amazing,”.

The Guardian’s smile grew as they nuzzled themself against him and closed their eyes; the fire, the crickets, and the sound of Crow’s beating heart lulling them to sleep.

He laughed softly and placed a kiss atop their head, “Rest… we have a long day of Hunts ahead of us,”.


End file.
